Ubiquitous optical cleaning apparatus

ABSTRACT

A device for cleaning an optical communication device includes a hollow outer stem, an inner stem core, a locking handle, a flexible base, at least one ring seal, and a flexible cover. The inner stem core, fits within a length of the hollow outer stem and is slidable along the length of the hollow outer stem. The locking handle is coupled to a top end of the inner stem core, and is movable between a released position and a locked position, where moving the locking handle to the locked position from the released position slides the inner stem core within the hollow outer stem. The flexible base is coupled to a bottom end of the hollow outer stem, and is transformable between a contracted position when the locking handle is in the released position and an expanded position when the locking handle is in the locked position. The at least one ring seal is coupled to the flexible base. The flexible cover is wrapped around the flexible base and the at least one ring seal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The instant application is a Continuation of, and claims priority to,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/370,480 entitled UBIQUITOUS OPTICALCLEANING APPARATUS filed Dec. 6, 2016, the contents of which are hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

This application relates to a cleaning apparatus, and more particularlyto a system and method for cleaning an optical communication device.

Description of the Related Art

Fiber optic cables have a number of advantages over electrical wires fordata transmission. Fiber optic cables are low-loss, low-cost, andhigh-bandwidth. They provide transmission security and a larger numberof data paths per circular area of the transmission medium. The low-losscharacteristic allows data to be transmitted over greater distancesbefore the signal must be amplified by “booster” equipment. Fiber opticcables are also immune from electromagnetic interference.

Standard connector (SC) and standard termination (ST) connectors areused in commercial wiring and are frequently used in multimode fiberapplications in building and campus LAN cabling systems. ST connectorsuse a twist on-twist off type of housing. SC connectors use a push tosnap on, and a push to snap off type of housing.

Most connector systems restrain the two fibers to be coupled withinferrules, which in turn are held in place by a housing. Within thehousing, a precision alignment sleeve aligns the two ferrules and thusthe two fibers. The fiber ends are flush with the ferrule ends and arepolished to reduce loss of light. All modern connector designs involvephysical contact between the two fiber ends. Loss of light at aconnection is called insertion loss or attenuation and is measured indB. Typically, attenuation for a mated pair of high quality connectorsis 0.35 dB or less.

However, the interface between the ends of the two optical fiber strandsis susceptible to fine dirt and dust particles and grease with theresult that the exposed end of one or both optical fiber strands maybecome contaminated. This occurs when the interface is exposed to theatmosphere for any reason (e.g., when connecting or disconnecting thecables). This could lead to a possible severe degradation in the amountof light energy transferred between the fiber strands. Dust, dirt andother contaminants are a problem in such optical connections becausethey interfere with the passage of light from one fiber to another.Fiber optic connectors must be kept clean to ensure long life and tominimize transmission loss and optical return loss at the connectionpoint. A single dust particle caught between two connectors will causesignificant signal loss. Dust particles as small as 1 μm in diameter onthe optical fiber end can significantly degrade performance. Particles 8μm in diameter or larger on the end of the core can cause a completefailure of the optical system.

For this reason, technicians may periodically disassemble the fiberoptic cable from the corresponding coupling of the mechanical connectorand clean the end of the fiber cable with an appropriate cleaning deviceand associated solution. However, current cleaning devices mostlycomprise of swabs that struggle to remove a sufficient percentage ofcontaminants from the fiber optic connectors to ensure the prevention ofsystem failure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other sample aspects of the present technology will bedescribed in the detailed description and the appended claims thatfollow, and in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates a cross-sectional profile view of an examplecleaning device in a contracted position;

FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional profile view of the examplecleaning device of FIG. 1A in an expanded position;

FIG. 2A illustrates another cross-sectional profile view of the examplecleaning device of FIG. 1A in the contracted position;

FIG. 2B illustrates another cross-sectional profile view of the examplecleaning device of FIG. 1A in a second expanded position; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an example methodology for cleaning an opticalcommunication device.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodimentsin order to provide a basic understanding of present technology. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments ofthe present technology, and is intended to neither identify key orcritical elements of all examples nor delineate the scope of any or allaspects of the present technology. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more examples in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the examples described herein,systems and methods are provided for cleaning an optical communicationdevice. The cleaning apparatus disclosed provides an improved structurefor cleaning contaminants in optical communication devices. In anaspect, a device for cleaning an optical communication device includes ahollow outer stem, an inner stem core, a locking handle, a flexiblebase, at least one ring seal, and a flexible cover. The inner stem corefits within a length of the hollow outer stem and is slidable along thelength of the hollow outer stem. The locking handle is coupled to a topend of the inner stem core, and is movable between a released positionand a locked position, where moving the locking handle to the lockedposition from the released position slides the inner stem core withinthe hollow outer stem. The flexible base is coupled to a bottom end ofthe hollow outer stem, and is transformable between a contractedposition when the locking handle is in the released position and anexpanded position when the locking handle is in the locked position. Theat least one ring seal is coupled to the flexible base. The flexiblecover is wrapped around the flexible base and the at least one ringseal.

The at least one ring seal in a contracted position has a smallerdiameter such that the flexible base can be inserted into a housingwithout touching the inner wall surface. Transforming the flexible basebetween the contracted position and the expanded position causes the atleast one ring seal to be expanded from a contracted configuration suchthat the at least one ring seal contacts an inner surface of a housing.In the expanded position, the at least one ring seal expands so as to betouching the inner wall of the housing. The flexible cover is alsofilled out by the expanded position of the at least one ring seal suchthat between the flexible cover and the ring seal, and spacing betweenring seals when there is more than one ring seal provide the structurewith which to capture contaminants within the housing and thus provide acleaner fiber-optic connection.

In a second aspect, a method for cleaning an optical communicationdevice, by a cleaning device, includes inserting a flexible base of thecleaning device into a barrel of the optical communication device. Thelocking handle of the cleaning device is moved from a released positionto a locked position to transform the flexible base from a contractedposition to an expanded position. At least one ring seal, coupled to theflexible base of the cleaning device, is pushed against an inner wall ofthe optical communication device when the locking handle of the cleaningdevice from the released position to the locked position. The cleaningdevice is rotated inside the barrel of the optical communication deviceand removed from the barrel of the optical communication device. Aflexible cover can be wrapped around at least a portion of the flexiblebase and at least one of the ring seals. In the locked position, the atleast one ring seal expands stretching the flexible cover into a tighterconfiguration. Between the tighter flexible cover and the at least onering seal, the method includes removing contaminants by rotating theexpanded cleaning device in the barrel of the optical communicationdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure provides techniques for remote controlledpiloting aids for unmanned aerial vehicles, in accordance with thesubject technology. Various aspects of the present technology aredescribed with reference to the drawings. In the following description,for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It canbe evident, however, that the present technology can be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-knownstructures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order tofacilitate describing these aspects. The word “exemplary” is used hereinto mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Anyembodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

FIG. 1A illustrates a cross-sectional profile view 100A of an examplecleaning device 101 in a contracted position. FIG. 1B illustrates across-sectional profile view 100B of the example cleaning device 101 inan expanded position.

FIG. 1A shows a view 100A of the cleaning device 101 partially insertedinto an optical communication device 190. FIG. 1B shows a view 100B ofthe same cleaning device 101 fully inserted into the opticalcommunication device 190.

In an implementation, the optical communication device 190 is an opticalcable coupling structure, such as for example, a ferule. The opticalcommunication device 190 can receive an optical cable within a barrel150. The barrel 150 is a cylindrical shaped hollow portion that allowsinsertion of a cylindrical shaped optical fiber cable (not shown). Whenthe optical fiber cable is fully inserted into the barrel, the opticalfiber cable makes physical contact with a floor surface 180 of theoptical communication device 190.

The cleaning device 101 is proportioned to slide into the barrel 150 ofthe optical communication device 190 without resistance. The portion ofthe cleaning device 101 that is inserted into the barrel 150 is slightlynarrower than the barrel 150 during insertion. This is because in thecontracted position, the rings 145 have a smaller diameter then whenthey are in the expanded position. In the contracted position, thediameter of the rings and the flexible base in general is not largeenough to touch the inner walls 152 of the barrel 150. To operate, auser inserts the cleaning device 101 in a contracted position into thebarrel 150 of the optical communication device 190 as shown in FIG. 1A.The user transforms the cleaning device from the contracted positioninto an expanded position as shown in FIG. 1B. The rings or ring seals145 are constructed so as to be flexible and expandable between thecontracted positions and the expanded position. The particular structureor cross-sectional configuration of each of the rings 145 can vary. Theycan be ring shaped, triangular-shaped, square-shaped, rectangularshaped, or any other specific configuration in cross-section. Of coursethe structure of the rings 145 will depend to some degree on a shape ofthe barrel 150. Generally speaking, the shape of the rings 145 isdetermined according to a need of engaging in an inner surface of thebarrel 150, no matter what the shape or configuration of the barrel 150is. The rings 145 generally will be complementary to the configurationof the inner surface of the barrel 150 so as to achieve the result of,in the expanded position, capturing dust or any other particulateswithin the barrel 150 in order to improve communications of the opticalmitigation device 190.

The cleaning device 101 includes a hollow outer stem 130 and an innerstem core 120 that runs along a length of the cleaning device 101. Thehollow outer stem 130 is cylindrical shaped exterior and has acylindrical cavity along a length of the hollow outer stem 130. Thehollow outer stem 130 could also have other shapes such as a square orrectangular cross-section rather than being cylindrical. The particularshape of the outer stem 130 is not critical to achieving the goal of theconcepts disclosed herein. The inner stem core 120 is cylindrical shaped(or other shapes as well, generally matching the shape of the innercavity of the hollow outer stem 130) and fits within the cavity withinthe hollow outer stem 130. The inner stem core 120 is slidable withinthe hollow outer stem 130 along the length of the hollow outer stem 130.The hollow outer stem 130 and the inner stem core 120 can include anyrigid construction material including, but not limited to plastics,metal, polymers, glass, etc.

A locking handle 110 is coupled to a top end of the inner stem core 120.A flexible base 160 is coupled to a bottom end of the hollow outer stem130, opposite to the locking handle 110. A user of the cleaning device101 can hold the cleaning device 101 by the locking handle 110 to insertthe flexible base 160 into the barrel 150 of the optical communicationdevice 190.

The locking handle 110 is shown generally in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. Thereason for this is that there can be a number of different mechanisms tocontrol the device to convert from the contracted position shown in FIG.1A to the expanded position shown in FIG. 1B. In some implementations,the locking handle 110 includes a screw mechanism that moves (up ordown) the locking handle between the released position and the lockedposition by rotating the locking handle 110 relative to the hollow outerstem 130. For example, the locking handle 110 can include an internalthread and the hollow outer stem 130 can include an external thread tomate with the internal thread of the locking handle 110.

In some other implementations, the locking handle 110 includes anotching mechanism that moves (up or down) the locking handle from thereleased position towards the locked position by sliding the lockinghandle over the hollow outer stem towards the flexible base.

The flexible base 160 can comprise any semi-rigid material, such asplastics, metal, polymers, etc., that allows the flexible base to bendor flex in shape. In some implementations, the flexible base 160includes a cylindrical upper portion and a cone lower portion, thecylindrical upper portion surrounding a portion of the hollow outerstem, the cone lower portion extending past the hollow outer stem.

At least one ring seal 145 is connected to the outer stem 130 through aflexible base 160. The ring seals are made of a material that is alsoflexible such that they can expand and contract as controlled by theflexible base. Note the angles of the structure 162 of FIG. 1A and 164of FIG. 1B of the flexible base 160 relative to the outer stem. Note thehead 166 of the flexible base 160 can be configured like at least partof an upside down cone in a contracted position such that an end or awidest portion of the cone does not have a diameter large enough tocontact the inner surface 152 of the barrel 150.

The at least one ring seal 145 is coupled to the flexible base 160. Eachring seal 145 can have a disk shaped cross-section (as viewed from topto down in FIGS. 2A and 2B) and encircles a portion of the hollow outerstem 130. Each ring seal 145 can extend out from the hollow outer stem130 in an upward angle towards the locking handle 110. Three ring seals145 are shown in the example cleaning device 101 in FIGS. 2A and 2B.Above each ring seal 145 is a contaminant collection space 155.

In general, the flexible base 160 provides a mechanism in which therings 145 can be configured with a smaller diameter and closer to thehollow outer stem 130 in the compacted position. In the expandedposition, a structure adjusts to provide outward pressure and movementradially away from the hollow outer stem 130 and onto the rings 145. Asshown in the differences between FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the structure thatadjusts will expand the flexible rings 145 such that they will touch theinner surface of the barrel 150. This enables the particulates to beretrieved from the barrel and potentially also captured in the cavities155 between respective rings 145. In order to achieve thisfunctionality, the rings 145 must be flexible in nature and are madefrom a rubber, foam, or any other flexible material that can bothachieve the ability of expanding from a contracted position to anexpanded position as well as having a nature or characteristic thatcollects or attracts contaminant particles.

The cleaning device 101 can deploy one ring seal 145, or two or morering seals 145, for the purposes of capturing contaminants in theoptical communication device 190. For example, the one or more ringseals 145 can be cylindrical, square, rectangular, ring shaped,irregularly shaped, and so forth. The particular shapes illustrated inthe figures are by way of example only. It is also noted that as isshown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the ring seals 145 are angled upward. Thisis also by way of example as it provides better cavities 155 in which tocapture contaminants. However, the shapes may also be circular,semicircular, triangular, horizontally configured, and so forth. Theparticular shape of each ring seal is not critical to the conceptsdisclosed herein. Indeed, one ring seal may be of a first shape, with asecond ring seal being a second shape. A third ring seal could be thefirst shape, the second shape, or third different shape. Additionally,while not shown, each ring seal, or one of the ring seals, can includenotches, rougher surfaces, or any other variation of structure or shapewhich can help to gather contaminants out of the barrel 150.

The user can transform the cleaning device 101 between the contractedposition show in FIG. 1A and the expanded position shown in FIG. 1Busing the locking handle 110. The locking handle 110 is movable betweenthe released position and the locked position, which correspondinglytransforms the cleaning device 101 between the contracted position andthe expanded position. When the locking handle 110 moves from thereleased position towards the locked position, the inner stem core 120slides down relative to the hollow outer stem 130 as well as relative tothe flexible base 160 coupled to the hollow outer stem 130.

The flexible base 160 transforms from the contracted position to theexpanded position as the locking handle 110 moves from the releasedposition towards the locked position. A diameter of the flexible base(view from top to bottom) in the contracted position is smaller than adiameter of the flexible base in the expanded position. In someimplementations, the flexible base 160 is made of a hollow outer shell.In some other implementations, the flexible base 160 is filled with afiller that allows the flexible base 160 to bend or flex. In theexpanded position, the flexible base 160 expands outward from the hollowouter stem 130, towards the barrel 150 of the optical communicationdevice 190. The ring seals 145 are each expanded to contact the innersurface of the barrel 150, when the flexible base 160 expands into theexpanded position.

A flexible cover 158 wraps around flexible base 160 and can also wraparound one or more of the ring seals 145. In some implementations theflexible cover 158 adheres closely to a surface of the flexible base andthe ring seals 145 to form a skin. The flexible cover 158 can includeany elastic material such as cloth, rubber, natural or synthetictextiles, etc., that can expand or contract with the transformation ofthe flexible base between the contracted position and expanded position.The flexible cover 158 attracts contaminants residing in barrel 150 ofthe optical communication device 190 that the flexible cover 158touches.

When the flexible base 160 transforms from the contracted position tothe expanded position, the flexible base 160 expands to place theflexible cover 158 to contact the barrel 150 and floor surface 180 ofthe optical communication surface 190. In some implementations, theflexible cover 158 contacts with substantially the entire floor surface180 when the cleaning device 101 is in the expanded position. In othercases, the flexible cover 158 can be positioned to extend over each ofthe ring seals 145 such that more portions of the flexible cover 158contacts the inner surface 152 of the barrel 150 when the cleaningdevice 101 is in the expanded position.

In the process of expanding, note that structure 162 shown in FIG. 1Achanges from an oblique angle to a horizontal position 164 shown in FIG.1B. This change in structure 162 causes the at least one ring 145, andthe flexible base 160 to increase in their diameter and thus expandoutward to diameter great enough to touch the inner surface 132 of thebarrel 150. In the expanded position, one or more ring seals 145 expandsto contact the inside surface 152 of the barrel 150.

The user can rotate the cleaning device within the barrel 150 to collectcontaminants from the optical communication device 190 to one or morecontaminant collection spaces 155. In one aspect, some of thecontaminants can be captured by the at least one ring 145 or theflexible cover 158. The user lastly removes the cleaning device 101,still in the expanded position, from the barrel 150, along with thecontaminants collected in the contaminant collection spaces 155 and/orcontained on one of the other surfaces of the seal rings 145 or flexiblecover 158.

In some implementations, the cleaning device 101 includes an optionalstem head 170 coupled to the inner stem core 120 within the flexiblebase 160. Note that the stem head 170 is not used for the opticalcommunication device shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and is an optionalcomponent in the cleaning device 101.

As noted above, the shapes of the various elements do not have to becylindrical but can be any cross-sectional shape such as rectangular,square, and so forth.

FIG. 2A illustrates another cross-sectional profile view 200A of theexample cleaning device 101 in the contracted position. FIG. 2Billustrates another cross-sectional profile 200B view of the examplecleaning device in a second expanded position.

FIG. 2A shows a view 200A of the cleaning device 101 partially insertedinto an optical communication device 190. FIG. 2B shows a view 200B ofthe same cleaning device 101 fully inserted into the opticalcommunication device 190.

In an implementation, the optical communication device 190 is an opticalcable coupling structure, such as for example, a ferule. The opticalcommunication device 190 can receive an optical cable within a barrel150. The barrel 150 is a cylindrical shaped hollow portion that allowsinsertion of a cylindrical shaped optical fiber cable (not shown). Whenthe optical fiber cable is fully inserted into the barrel, the opticalfiber cable makes physical contact with a ball lens 210 of the opticalcommunication device 190.

The optical communication device 190 differs from the opticalcommunication device 190 of FIGS. 1A and 1B in that the opticalcommunication device 190 includes an additional passage 220 leading tothe balls lens 210, which is not present in the optical communicationdevice 190.

The cleaning device 101 is proportioned to slide into the barrel 150 ofthe optical communication device 190 without resistance. The portion ofthe cleaning device 101 that is inserted into the barrel 150 is slightlynarrower than the barrel 150 during insertion because the device 101 isin the contracted position. To operate, a user inserts the cleaningdevice 101 in a contracted position shown in FIG. 2A into the barrel 150of the optical communication device 190. The user transforms thecleaning device 101 into a second expanded position shown in FIG. 2B.The user may rotate the cleaning device 101 within the barrel 150 tocollect contaminants in the optical communication device 190. Thefunctionality is similar to what is described above in FIG. 1A and FIG.1B. The user lastly removes the cleaning device 101, still in theexpanded position, from the barrel 150, along with the contaminantscollected.

The cleaning device 101 includes a hollow outer stem 130 and an innerstem core 120 that runs along a length of the cleaning device 101. Thehollow outer stem 130 is cylindrical shaped exterior (or could be othershapes) and has a cylindrical cavity or other shapes) within along alength of the hollow outer stem 130. The inner stem core 120 iscylindrical shaped and fits within the cylindrical cavity within thehollow outer stem 130. The inner stem core 120 is slidable within thehollow outer stem 130 along the length of the hollow outer stem 130. Thehollow outer stem 130 and the inner stem core 120 can include any rigidconstruction material including, but not limited to plastics, metal,polymers, glass, etc. again, where a particular type of shape such as acylindrical shape is reference, it should be read to include orencompass any other potential shape as these particular shapes are notcritical to the concepts disclosed herein.

A locking handle 110 is coupled to a top end of the inner stem core 120.A flexible base 160 is coupled to a bottom end of the hollow outer stem130, opposite to the locking handle 110. A user of the cleaning device101 can hold the cleaning device 101 by the locking handle 110 to insertthe flexible base 160 into the barrel 150 of the optical communicationdevice 190.

The locking handle 110 is shown generally in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. Thereason for this is that there can be a number of different mechanisms tocontrol the device to convert from the contracted position shown in FIG.2A to the expanded position shown in FIG. 2B. In some implementations,the locking handle 110 includes a screw mechanism that moves (up ordown) the locking handle 110 between the released position and thelocked position by rotating the locking handle 110 relative to thehollow outer stem 130. For example, the locking handle 110 can includean internal thread and the hollow outer stem 130 can include an externalthread to mate with the internal thread of the locking handle 110.

In some other implementations, the locking handle 110 includes anotching mechanism that moves (up or down) the locking handle from thereleased position towards the locked position by sliding the lockinghandle 110 over the hollow outer stem 130 towards the flexible base 160.

The flexible base 160 can include any semi-rigid material, such as toplastics, metal, polymers, etc., that allows the flexible base to bendor flex in shape. In some implementations, the flexible base 160includes a cylindrical upper portion and a cone lower portion, thecylindrical upper portion surrounding a portion of the hollow outerstem, the cone lower portion extending past the hollow outer stem.

At least one ring seal 145 is coupled to the flexible base 160. Eachring seal 145 has a disk shaped cross-section (as viewed from top todown in FIGS. 2A and 2B) and encircles a portion of the hollow outerstem 130. Each ring seal 145 can extend out from the hollow outer stem130 in an upward angle towards the locking handle 110. Three ring seals145 are shown in the example cleaning device 101 in FIGS. 2A and 2B.Above each ring seal 145 is a contaminant collection space 155. Thecleaning device 101 can deploy one ring seal 145, or two or more ringseals 145, for the purposes of capturing contaminants in the opticalcommunication device 190. For example, the one or more ring seals 145can be cylindrical, square, rectangular, ring shaped, irregularlyshaped, and so forth. The particular shapes illustrated in the figuresare by way of example only. It is also noted that as is shown in FIG. 1Aand FIG. 1B, the ring seals 145 are angled upward. This is also by wayof example as it provides better cavities 155 in which to capturecontaminants. However, the shapes may also be circular, semicircular,triangular, horizontally configured, and so forth. The particular shapeof each ring seal is not critical to the concepts disclosed herein.Indeed, one ring seal may be of a first shape, with a second ring sealbeing a second shape. A third ring seal could be the first shape, thesecond shape, or third different shape. Additionally, while not shown,each ring seal, or one of the ring seals, can include notches, roughersurfaces, or any other variation of structure or shape which can help togather contaminants out of the barrel 150.

The user can transform cleaning device 101 between the contractedposition 101 shown in FIG. 2A and the expanded position shown in FIG. 2Busing the locking handle 110. The locking handle 110 is movable betweena released position and a locked position, which correspondinglytransforms the cleaning device 101 between the contracted position andthe expanded position. When the locking handle 110 moves from thereleased position towards the locked position, the inner stem core 120slides down relative to the hollow outer stem 130 as well as relative tothe flexible base 160 coupled to the hollow outer stem 130.

The flexible base 160 transforms from a contracted position to anexpanded position as the locking handle 110 moves from the releasedposition towards the locked position. A diameter of the flexible base(view from top to bottom) in the contracted position is smaller than adiameter of the flexible base in the expanded position. In someimplementations, the flexible base 160 is included of a hollow outershell. In some other implementations, the flexible base 160 is filledwith a filler that allows the flexible base 160 to bend or flex. In theexpanded position, the flexible base 160 expands outward from the hollowouter stem 130, towards the barrel 150 of the optical communicationdevice 190. The ring seals 145 are each expanded to contact the innersurface of the barrel 150, when the flexible base expands into theexpanded position.

A flexible cover 158 wraps around flexible base 160 and can also wraparound one or more of the ring seals 145. In some implementations theflexible cover 158 adheres closely to a surface of the flexible base andthe ring seals 145 to form a skin. The flexible cover can include anyelastic material such as cloth, rubber, natural or synthetic textiles,etc., that can expand or contract with the transformation of theflexible base between the contracted position and expanded position. Theflexible cover attracts contaminants residing in barrel 150 of theoptical communication device 190 that the flexible cover 158 touches.

When the flexible base 160 transforms from the contracted position tothe expanded position, the flexible base 160 expands to place theflexible cover 158 to contact the barrel 150 and floor surface 180 ofthe optical communication surface 190. In some implementations, theflexible cover 158 contacts with substantially the entire floor surface180 when the cleaning device 101 is in the expanded position. In someimplementations, the flexible cover 158 over each of the ring seals 145contacts the barrel 150 when the cleaning device 101 is in the expandedposition.

In the process of expanding, note that structure 162 shown in FIG. 1Achanges from an oblique angle to a horizontal position 164 shown in FIG.1B. This change in structure 162 causes the at least one ring 145, andthe flexible base 160 to increase in their diameter and thus expandoutward to diameter great enough to touch the inner surface 132 of thebarrel 150. In the expanded position, one or more ring seals 145 expandsto contact the inside surface 152 of the barrel 150.

The cleaning device 101 includes a stem head 170 coupled to the innerstem core 120 within the flexible base 160, where the locking handle 110is further movable to an extended locking position. The stem head 170 isextended beyond the flexible base 160 to the second expanded positionwhen the locking handle 110 is moved from the locked position to theextended locking position. In the second expanded position, the stemhead 170 extends into and substantially fills an entirety of theadditional passage 220 leading to the balls lens 210. The flexible cover158 is configured around at least a head 166 of the flexible base 160and a fiber stem head 170. In the second expanded position, the flexiblecover 158 makes contact with a surface of the ball lens 210.

After the cleaning device 101 is in the second expanded position, theuser can rotate the cleaning device within the barrel 150 to collectcontaminants from the optical communication device 190 to one or morecontaminant collection spaces 155. In one aspect, some of thecontaminants can be captured by the at least one ring 145 or theflexible cover 158. The user lastly removes the cleaning device 101,still in the second expanded position, from the barrel 150, along withthe contaminants collected in the contaminant collection spaces 155and/or contained on one of the other surfaces of the seal rings 145 orflexible cover 158.

As noted above, the shapes of the various elements do not have to becylindrical but can be any cross-sectional shape such as rectangular,square, and so forth.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example methodology 300 for cleaning an opticalcommunication device, by a cleaning device.

At step 310, the cleaning device inserts a flexible base of the cleaningdevice into a barrel of the optical communication device.

At step 320, the cleaning device moves a locking handle of the cleaningdevice from a released position to a locked position to transform theflexible base from a contracted position to an expanded position. In theexpanded position, at least one ring seal of the cleaning device areeach expanded to contact the inner surface of the optical communicationdevice.

At step 330, the cleaning device pushes the at least one ring seal,coupled to the flexible base of the cleaning device, against an innerwall of the optical communication device when the locking handle of thecleaning device moves from the released position to the locked position.In some implementations, above each ring seal is a contaminantcollection space.

At step 340, the cleaning device rotates the cleaning device inside thebarrel of the optical communication device.

At step 350, the cleaning device removing the cleaning device from thebarrel of the optical communication device.

In some implementations, the cleaning device further collectscontaminants from the optical communication device around the at leastone ring seal, wherein removing the cleaning device removes thecontaminants from the optical communication device.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable anyperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein can beapplied to other variations without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to theexamples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widestscope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tool for cleaning an optical communicationdevice, comprising: a hollow outer stem; an inner stem core, fittingwithin a length of the hollow outer stem and slidable along the lengthof the hollow outer stem; a locking handle coupled to a top end of theinner stem core, movable between a released position and a lockedposition, wherein moving the locking handle to the locked position fromthe released position slides the inner stem core within the hollow outerstem; a shaft with a flexible lateral exterior coupled to a bottom endof the hollow outer stem, transformable between a contracted positionwhen the locking handle is in the released position and an expandedposition when the locking handle is in the locked position; and theshaft has first and second protrusions and a groove there between,wherein the first and second protrusions engage an inner cylindricalwall of the optical communications device when in the expanded positionand at least partially separate from the inner cylindrical wall when inthe contracted position, such that dirt on the inner cylindrical wall iscaught in the groove during movement of the tool.
 2. The tool of claim1, the shaft includes a flexible base surrounded by first and secondring seals.
 3. The tool of claim 2, wherein the first and second ringseals coincide with the first and second protrusions, and a gap betweenthe first and second seal rings coincide with the groove.
 4. The tool ofclaim 2, wherein the shaft includes a flexible cover over the flexiblebase and the first and second seal rings.
 5. The tool of claim 2,wherein the first and second ring seal is transformable between acontracted shape when the locking handle is in the released position andan expanded shape when the locking handle is in the locked position, theexpanded shape of the first and second ring seals having a larger radiusthan the contracted shape of the at first and second ring seals.
 6. Thetool of claim 1, wherein an end of the shaft comprises a cylindricalupper portion and a cone lower portion, the cylindrical upper portionfully encircling a portion of the hollow outer stem, the cone lowerportion extending past the hollow outer stem.
 7. The tool of claim 1,wherein an upper side of the first ring seal is at an acute angle to acentral axis of the shaft.
 8. The tool of claim 1, wherein an upper sideof the second ring seal is at an acute angle to a central axis of theshaft.
 9. The tool of claim 1, wherein the flexible cover is comprisedof an elastic material.
 10. The tool of claim 1, wherein the lockinghandle comprises a screw mechanism that moves the locking handle betweenthe released position and the locked position by rotating the lockinghandle relative to the hollow outer stem.
 11. The tool of claim 9,wherein the locking handle comprises an internal thread and the hollowouter stem comprises an external thread to mate with the internal threadof the locking handle.
 12. The tool of claim 1, wherein the lockinghandle comprises a notching mechanism that moves the locking handle fromthe released position towards the locked position by sliding the lockinghandle over the hollow outer stem towards the flexible base.
 13. Thetool of claim 1, further comprising a stem head coupled to the innerstem core within the flexible base, wherein the locking handle isfurther movable to an extended locking position, the stem head isextended beyond the flexible base to a second expanded position when thelocking handle is moved from the locked position to the extended lockingposition, and the flexible cover is additionally wrapped around the stemhead when the stem head is extended.
 14. The tool of claim 13, whereinthe stem head has a shape of a cavity of the optical communicationdevice that leads to a ball lens.
 15. A tool for cleaning an opticalcommunication device, comprising: a hollow outer stem; an inner stemcore, fitting within a length of the hollow outer stem and slidablealong the length of the hollow outer stem; a locking handle coupled to atop end of the inner stem core, movable between a released position anda locked position, wherein moving the locking handle to the lockedposition from the released position slides the inner stem core withinthe hollow outer stem; a shaft with a flexible lateral exterior coupledto a bottom end of the hollow outer stem, transformable between acontracted position when the locking handle is in the released positionand an expanded position when the locking handle is in the lockedposition, the shaft including a flexible base surrounded by ring sealsthat are covered by a flexible cover; and the shaft has protrusions anda grooves, wherein the protrusions engage an inner cylindrical wall ofthe optical communications device when in the expanded position and atleast partially separate from the inner cylindrical wall when in thecontracted position, such that dirt on the inner cylindrical wall iscaught in the grooves during movement of the tool.
 16. The tool of claim15, wherein an end of the shaft comprises a cylindrical upper portionand a cone lower portion, the cylindrical upper portion fully encirclinga portion of the hollow outer stem, the cone lower portion extendingpast the hollow outer stem.
 17. The tool of claim 15, wherein an upperside of the ring seals is at an acute angle to a central axis of theshaft.
 18. The tool of claim 15, wherein the flexible cover is comprisedof an elastic material.
 19. The tool of claim 15, wherein the lockinghandle comprises a screw mechanism that moves the locking handle betweenthe released position and the locked position by rotating the lockinghandle relative to the hollow outer stem.
 20. The tool of claim 15,wherein the locking handle comprises a notching mechanism that moves thelocking handle from the released position towards the locked position bysliding the locking handle over the hollow outer stem towards theflexible base.